Educators Give New Tests an 'A'

State education officials say the Common Core State Standards tests will be both less expensive and better than Mississippi's own tests.

The 20-state consortium developing the tests recently said they'll cost $29.50 per student, and include two tests a year for both English and math.

Mississippi's test costs $30 per subject area plus $17 for the MCT2 test, more than $80 a year for a typical 10th grader.

Lamar County School District assistant superintendent Stacey Pace told The Hattiesburg American that another improvement is that Common Core tests won't be multiple choice. She says students will have to explain how they got their answers.

Richard Bailko, with the Mississippi Department of Education's Office of Student Assessment, agrees that the Common Core test will test greater depth of knowledge.

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